Verdusco homer walks off opener with Utah Tech

Friday, April 21

Phoenix, Ariz.

6:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

21-17, 12-7

Utah Tech

9-28, 4-12

Utah Tech

Grand Canyon

4/21/2023 10:45:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

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Avitia's quality start, Ward's bullpen brilliance sets up 12th-inning heroics

By: Paul Coro

When the pain and annoyance of a hand injury cooled Cade Verdusco from .362 hitting to an 0-for-25 slump in March, the Grand Canyon junior left fielder was working toward a turn of his health and confidence that came in the past two weeks.

That tenacious turn paled in comparison to how Verdusco turned on an inside fastball Friday night for a 12th-inning walk-off home run in the Lopes' 4-2 victory that opened a conference series against Utah Tech.

Verdusco, back in his groove with a .351 batting average over the past eight games, went 3 for 5 on Friday night and made a diving catch during GCU starting pitcher Daniel Avitia's fourth consecutive quality start.

But it took five shutout relief innings from senior Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis and junior Nathan Ward to set up Verdusco beating the Trailblazers on a walk-off hit for the second time in his career. This blast high above GCU Ballpark's left-field wall was the Tempe Corona del Sol High School graduate's first walk-off home run of his life.

"I was really just going up there to try to find a pitch to hit, like a double or something," Verdusco said. "The hands are feeling good. Worked inside of a fastball, caught it out front and watched it fly. It felt great." Cade Verdusco

GCU was in that position because Avitia continued his recent run with his highest pitch count of the season (115), made possible when he plead with head coach Gregg Wallis to return for a shutout seventh inning.

"It was a big performance from Danny," Wallis said. "It looks like he's on a roll, and this is him. So this is a great sign for us."

Over the past four games, the sophomore right-hander has posted a 2.33 ERA with at least six innings in each start. He only surrendered six singles Friday, only surrendering runs on bloop and dink RBI hits with two outs in the fourth inning.

A RBI sacrifice fly from junior first baseman Elijah Buries in the fourth and a RBI double off the right-center field wall by graduate second baseman Zack Gregory in the seventh tied the game as the Lopes bullpen locked down Utah Tech. Gregory, 10 for 21 with 10 walks in the past seven games, has reached base in 21 consecutive games.

Nathan Ward

GCU (22-17, 13-7 WAC) remained in second place in the conference race largely because of Ward's work, which began with the Yavapai College transfer entering in a two-on, two-out situation in the ninth inning. The 6-foot-8, 255-pound Phoenix Mountain Pointe High School graduate drew an inning-ending fly out and shut out the Trailblazers on one hit with four strikeouts over the final three innings to earn his first win.

With consecutive shutout outings of 3 1/3 innings in the past week, Ward has dropped his season ERA to 0.66 without being scored upon In his last 11 innings.

Using his slider well Friday night, Ward drew a 1-4-3 double play on a hit-and-run to end the top of the 10th and outraced Utah Tech center fielder Chase Rodriguez to cover first base and squash a top-of-12th threat.

"I'm a huge adrenalin guy," Ward said. "So once I get that adrenalin, it just takes over. I try to get my team going because I think they feed off it. Energy's everything."

The victory marked the Lopes' ninth consecutive win against Utah Tech in the series, making GCU 8-0 against the Trailblazers since returning to Division I in 2014.

GCU won in walk-off style for the second time this season (Gregory homered to beat Gonzaga on Feb. 25) and it marked the Lopes' second 12-inning win of the week (won 6-4 at Abilene Christian on Sunday).

"That's the theme at the end of the year – if we pitch and play defense, we'll have a chance to win every game," said Wallis, whose team did not make an error for the second consecutive game. "The pitching and the defense were incredible all night.

"Brodie and Ward-o did a tremendous job. Ward-o is inspiring everyone with what he's doing. He's been in these big games, and he loves the moment. This is two game in a row that he's been in back-and-forth, extra-inning battles and he's the right guy to have on the mound because he's competing with everything he's got."

The Lopes and Trailblazers will meet for the second game of the series Saturday at 6:30 p.m., when junior right-hander Carter Young will start for GCU against Utah Tech left-hander Carsten Herman.

Mildred Brazell passes away

The

re was a pregame moment of silence Friday night in memory of Dr. Mildred Brazell, who passed away Thursday after turning 98 on March 30.

Mildred, a 38-year Grand Canyon professor, was married 72 years to Dr. Dave Brazell, who founded Lopes baseball in 1951 and coached the program for 28 years. The Brazells had two children, Don and Diane.

"Mrs. B" remained a supporter of GCU Athletics following her husband's 2018 passing, throwing out the first pitch in 2019 when Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark reopened with an expanded stadium.

"Nobody probably has contributed more to Grand Canyon University over the years than Dave and Mildred Brazell," GCU president Brian Mueller said previously. "They have made countless contributions to the University and impacted thousands of lives from an academic, athletic and spiritual life perspective."